Second Story Garage: Ashley's picks — and farewell

When I interviewed for a job with the Colorado Daily in September 2011, then-editor Dave Burdick asked me what I would do with extra time and resources. I told him I'd bring music into the newsroom.

Less than a year later, with hard work from Dave, sound engineer Duncan Taylor, photographer Paul Aiken and executive editor Kevin Kaufman, Second Story Garage was born. With the help of my co-host, Quentin Young, producer Kevin "Moose" Huhn and many others, it grew beautifully.

It's strange to look back at videos of Rob Drabkin -- a stranger who greeted me with a hug and became my friend -- playing in an empty studio and leaving behind his hair pick. Now, as I bid adieu nearly two years later, the Garage has seen nearly 90 performances and the shelves are cluttered with mementos.

I've been tasked with picking my favorite performances, and it was a lot more difficult than I expected. I gave myself a limit of five and ended up with seven after having to trim from the list so many fantastic musicians whom I can't thank enough for performing in our studio. In no particular order, here they are:

Above, the super-fun Whiskey Shivers. I noticed that every song I chose was also the song Duncan thought was best. I listen to our recording of "Jealous Heart" all the time. And when I saw these guys barefoot in a bar in Austin, Texas, I knew they needed to play in the Garage. They didn't let me down.

The Shivers weren't the only Austin band I was hoping to get into the Daily Camera's newsroom studio. Ringo Deathstarr came in off the road and got very loud and a little crazy for us during a performance that came to a crashing, screeching end with "Nowhere."

Speaking of loud, In The Whale might have been the loudest band we've brought in. In "Ed Gein Blues," a song about a man who made a human skin lampshade, you can see that the band shook things off the shelves.

MacIntyre feels Colorado is capable of making run at bowl gameCU BUFFS FALL CAMPWhen: 29 practices beginning Wednesday morning 8:30-11 a.m. Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday practices are open to the media and public next week. Full Story

It didn't take long for Denver music observers to notice Plume Varia. Husband and wife Shon and Cherie Cobbs formed the band only two years ago, but after about a year they started finding themselves on best-of lists and playing the scene's top venues. Full Story